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Figure 2.Camera-based sensor arrangement with a ROI in front of the tractor: (a) near the mass center of the tractor with referential coordinate systems; (b) Zenithal position.The optical system consists of a Schneider Cinegon 1.9/10-0901 lens [22], with manual iris aperture (f-stop) ranging from 1.9 to 16 and manual lockable focus, providing high stability in the agricultural environment. It is valid for sensor formats up to a diagonal value of 1��, i.e., maximum image circle of 16 mm, and is equipped with an F-mount which can be adapted to C-mount. The focal length is fixed at 10 mm. Its field of view is above 50�� with object image distance from infinity to 7.5 mm, which allows the mapping of a width of 3 m as required for our application. Its spectral range varies from 400 to 1,000 nm, i.

e., visible and near-infrared (NIR). Under this optical system the images are captured with perspective projection [18].As mentioned before, our system works in adverse outdoor agricultural environments where the natural illumination contains a high infra-red component. The sensor is highly sensitive to NIR radiation and to a lesser extent to ultra-violet (UV) radiation. The NIR heavily contaminates the three spectral channels (Red, Green and Blue) producing images with hot colors. This makes identification of crop lines and weeds unfeasible because during the treatments these structures are basically green. To avoid this undesired effect, the system is equipped with a Schneider UV/IR 486 cut-off filter [23]. Its operating curve specifies that wavelengths below 370 nm and above 760 nm are blocked, i.

e., both UV and NIR radiation. Despite this blocking effect, a vignetting effect remains, requiring correction as described below.More than 2,000 images have been acquired in the CSIC-CAR facilities in Arganda del Rey (Madrid) on different dates, during April/May/June 2011 from maize fields and the last ones on November 2012 and January 2013. No maize crops are available at this time of the year. Because our application is specifically designed for maize crops, crop lines have been made by mowing six 80 meter long lines among weeds. Lines are separated 75 cm from each other like in real maize crops.To quantify the number of pixels with the maximum accuracy as possible, a bright orange colored cardboard of 1 �� 1 m2 is used.

This cardboard defines the physical ROI to be imaged with a peculiar Brefeldin_A color, which is not present in agronomic images. It is placed in front of the tractor at different distances. As mentioned before, these distances define one of the extrinsic parameters involved in this study related to accuracy from a geometric point of view.2.2. MeA wide range of commercial applications such as emergency services and cell phone location-based services (LBS) have driven the development of pedestrian navigation technology over the past several years.

Our method’s advantages are obliviously precise location (x,y,z) ��3�C5 cm in overall accuracy, dynamic in situ point-measurements and comparability due to values based on physical units.2.1.1. Hydra ProbeThe Hydra Probe (Stevens Water Monitoring System), is a dielectric permittivity sensor based on frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) at 50 MHz and indirectly indicates volumetric water content �� (m3?m?3) (sensor description see [10]). Usually it is applied for soil water monitoring in unsaturated conditions such as agricultural areas. For our application it is fixed on a telescope rod with a GNSS antenna mounted on top and used in saturated conditions to delineate air, water, and soft mud.The Hydra Probe with analog output is used, because its rate of several measurements per second is faster compared to its digital counter parts (SDI-12 and RS-485) [11].

The output is transformed into the parameters (soil temperature measured by an internal thermistor, soil electrical conductivity, and dielectric permittivity). The directly measured relative complex dielectric permittivity, which composes of a real and an imaginary part, is further temperature corrected [12] and correlated to the soil water content [10]. The temperature corrected real part of the relative complex dielectric permittivity ��rcorr enables the layer delineation by its significant difference; with ��r in air (1), Neusiedler See water (70�C80), and solid particles (4�C7).It is proven that the relationship of probe length submersed in suspension and its output ��rcorr is highly linear [13] and thus an advantage.

The sensor’s reference point is set at the pins protruding base.2.1.2. PenetrometerCone penetrometers are recommended in the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) Standards as a standard method for measuring the penetrometer resistance PR of soils [14]. They are extensively used to evaluate soil strength especially in agriculture for resistance to root penetration [15], soil trafficability and soil compaction [16,17], but also for hydrogeomorphological surveying to identify depth of boundaries between layers [7]. In our case it should indicate dense layers to detect the lakebed surface and the shallow sub-bottom strata in combination with the sediment echosounder.A penetrometer (Eijkelkamp, Art. Nr. 06.15.

01) is modified twofold: the strain gauge is directly cTemperature measurement is basic and important work Carfilzomib in a variety of industries. Electrical temperature sensors included resistive temperature detectors, thermistors and thermocouples [1,2]. Because of their multiple advantages of low cost, robustness and easily standardization, thermocouples are the most frequently used sensors for temperature measurement. They can measure a wide range of temperatures and have long-term stability and high reliability [3,4].

An error model for points has been well-studied for a long time in the areas of surveying, geodesy, and photogrammetry [24]. Point data can be perturbed according to an error ellipse prescribed by given parameters of a variance-covariance matrix. In Figure 3a, one hundredA chemical sensor is a device that transforms chemical information, ranging from the concentration of a specific sample component to total composition analysis, into an analytically useful signal. Chemical sensors usually contain two basic components connected in series: a chemical (molecular) recognition system (receptor) and a physicochemical transducer. Biosensors are chemical sensors in which the recognition system utilizes a biochemical mechanism [1�C3].A biosensor recognition system is usually enzyme-based.

Enzymes are known for their characteristic trait to catalyze only one specific chemical reaction, which provides biosensors with high specificity. Furthermore, enzymes are known to be very efficient catalysts, ensuring high biosensor sensitivity [4�C8].A physicochemical transducer may be developed by employing several different approaches. One of the most common approaches is amperometric. In this case, one of the products of chemical reactions occurring during the operation of a biosensor engages in an electrochemical reaction on the biosensor electrode surface. The measured current is usually proportional to the concentration of the analyte, which allows the determination of the analyte concentration using a preestablished calibration curve [2,5,9].

Carbon nanotubes are a popular electrode material among biosensor scientists. A lot of biosensors have been developed using carbon nanotube electrodes [10,11]. Some biosensors based on the direct electron transfer between an enzyme and a carbon nanotube electrode were designed [12,13]. However, it was demonstrated that it is possible to achieve Carfilzomib direct electron transfer using a cheaper electrode material, modified carbon black [14,15]. In [15], a glucose biosensor employing the s-PQQ-glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) enzyme and the electrode based on carbon black was created. In this work, the glucose biosensor based on the same electrode and the same enzyme employing mediator N-methylphenazonium methyl sulfate was developed. To increase the stability and prolong the calibration curve of the biosensor, the enzyme was immobilized onto a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coated terylene film.

Thus, the biosensor has the shape of a sandwich, where the permeable membrane entraps the enzyme layer [3,16]The understanding of intrinsic biosensor mechanisms is important in designing and optimizing novel biosensors. In order to fully understand the processes taking place during biosensor operation, a mathematical model of a biosensor should be built [17,18].

In the near-IR spectral range optical parameter oscillators or conventional diode laser are typically the light source of choice. In the mid-IR and THz spectral regions quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) and interband cascade lasers (ICLs) are the optimal choice, due to their high output power, compactness, narrow spectral linewidth and broad wavelength tunability [3�C5]. Two main QCL configurations are used: (1) distributed feedback (DFB) QCLs having a Bragg reflector built on top of waveguide, which forces the QCL to operate in single axial mode operation. QCLs are tuned by keeping the device operating temperature fixed and changing the current or vice versa, keeping the current fixed and changing the temperature; or (2) an external cavity QCL (EC-QCL), in which the quantum cascade device is the laser gain medium and mirrors are arranged in a configuration external to the laser to create an optical cavity.

By replacing one of the external cavity mirror with a high quality diffraction grating, it is possible to tune the QCL emission wavelength over >15% of its central value.LAS-based techniques offer not only excellent sensitivity and selectivity, but also long effective optical pathlengths, compactness, mechanical stability, versatility and cost effectiveness. In the case of cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) an optical cavity with two concave mirrors with low loss and high reflectivity (>99.9%) provides a long optical path of up to several kilometers. A light pulse is injected into the cavity through one of the mirrors and inside the cavity, multiple reflections occur.

After each reflection, leakage radiation from the cavity is registered by means of an appropriate photodetector [6]. A modification of the CRDS is cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS) in which the radiation is injected at a very small angle respect Cilengitide to the cavity axes which results in the formation of a dense structure of weak optical axial modes that makes the entire system more robust against instability in both the cavity and laser spectrum [7]. The idea of integrated cavity output spectroscopy (ICOS) is similar to CEAS. However, the measurement procedure is based on the comparison between the signal amplitude both at the input and the output of the cavity [8]. Both techniques require precise information about mirror reflectivity, a sensitive photodetector with a fast-response, perfect optical alignment and the use of long optical pathlengths.

One of the most robust and sensitive trace-gas optical detection techniques is photo-acoustic spectroscopy (PAS), which is capable of extremely high detection sensitivities with a compact and relatively low-cost absorption detection module (ADM) [9].2.?Photoacoustic SpectroscopyThis technique is also based on an optical absorption process, such as CRDS, ICOS and CEAS, but differs in the physical phenomenon used for the detection of the absorption signal.

Figure 1.Demonstration of (a) feature-level fusion and (b) decision-level fusion.2.2. Definition of Meta-feature and Trans-functionAs mentioned above, Ri can be considered a quantitative estimation of the test pattern’s characters using the i-th sensor. Intuitively, it is believed that different sensors probably give different measurements due to the factors of sensor type, position, sensitivity, etc. But it is worth noting that they are describing the same test pattern after all. So there must be some kind of inherent relationship among them. Here we call R0 Meta-feature (MF) which is defined as the intrinsic and natural expression of the test pattern’s characters, which is probably a priori in most situations.

Suppose there is a functional relationship Ti between R0 and Ri, i.e., Ri=Ti(R0).

Then we define Ti as the Transfunction (TF) from R0 to Ri, ?i [1,M]. Specially, if Ri is the same as R0, then the TF is invariant, i.e., Ri=Ti(R0) = R0.The concepts of MF and TF are the theoretical basis of applying classifier ensemble methods in multi-sensor systems. Unfortunately, in many situations, the concept of MF and TF may be hard to substantialize and understand, so they are of less use for calculation than theoretical deductiEvapotranspiration (��E, soil evaporation and vegetation transpiration) from the land surface is an important link between the surface energy balance and the hydrologic cycle. Its accurate characterization is therefore very important in the study of the terrestrial ecosystem, climate dynamics and hydrologic cycle.

At present, estimate of regional evapotranspiration has been made possible by using the remote sensing observations in combination with the surface Batimastat meteorological data. In the past years, several remote sensing methods were developed to simulate surface-atmosphere interactions and to retrieve the terrestrial evapotranspiration over a wide range of spatial scales [1].By treating the soil-vegetation system as a single uniform leaf, the big-leaf model simplified GSK-3 the mechanism of the energy exchange between the surface and the atmosphere, and therefore the regional scale evapotranspiration simulation is made.

This category of models is simple and convenient to use, but the limitation is that this big-leaf approximation in the model is not applicable to surfaces with highly spatial heterogeneity due to large differences of surface energy exchange between soil and vegetation, such as in arid or semi-arid areas. Therefore, a two-layer model is proposed and the surface available energy is partitioned between soil and vegetation to overcome the limitation of the big-leaf model.

Section 3 gives the details of the proposed architecture and related schemes. Section 4 provides the evaluation results and finally Section 5 concludes our work.2.?Background and Relevant Work2.1. IP-USN and Related TechnologiesSo far, 6LoWPAN (IPv6 over Low power WPAN) [9] is the only standard implementation of IP-USN. 6LoWPAN promises to transparently connect two different network paradigms, providing most of the advantages offered by the IP layer without forfeiting low-power operations of sensor networks. As 6LoWPAN is a merger of 802.15.4 and IPv6, it inherently supports 81 to 93 octets MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit), depending upon link layer security parameters. This MTU is significantly lower than the 1,280 octet MTU which is a minimum standard for IPv6.

Therefore, an Adaptation Layer is used, as shown in Figure 1. The main function of the Adaptation Layer is to fragment and reassemble the packets. Figure 1 also depicts the position of gateway which is required to connect sensor nodes to the Internet. Devices in 6LoWPAN can be divided in to FFD (Full Function Device) and RFD (Reduced Function Device), depending upon their computation and memory resources. FFDs usually have more resources and can support RFDs by providing functions such as network coordination, packet forwarding, interfacing with other types of networks, etc. The IEEE 802.15.4 standard allows both star and peer-to-peer topologies with the presence of a central coordinator. Although, our IDS can be applied to any IP-based sensor networks, however throughout the paper we will refer 6LoWPAN to exemplify and illustrate the concept.

Figure 1.Traffic flow in IP-USN.2.2. SignaturSample pretreatment is one of the most important steps in an analytical process. Recently, micro-fluidic systems have been investigated extensively for biological and chemical analysis because miniaturization requires smaller samples and Cilengitide offers lower reagent consumption and costs and higher throughput and performance. However, the capability of microfluidic devices to efficiently handle complex samples and the integration of sample pretreatment on the same microfluidic chip will be essential to the successful application of these microfluidic systems. In the Micro Total Analysis Systems (��-TAS) field much attention has been paid to sample pretreatment units integrated on microfluidic chips [1].

To date, solid media have shown special advantages for practical sample analysis, and some pretreatment methods involving solid media integrated into microfluidic chips have been investigated recently. Beads are currently used in many analytical systems, although incorporating them into chips is really difficult [2]. On the other hand, membranes are readily incorporated into micro-fluidic systems, but have limited applicability due to their small size [3].

For a classifier to be effective, one must first define a set of classes that are well separated by a set of features derived from the multi-spectral channel radiometric data. The choice of classes is not always straightforward and may depend upon the desired applications. For instance, some investigators choose a set of standard cloud types such as cirrostratus, altocumulus, or cumulus [21,27,28] to show weather condition and rainfall intensity.The present FY-2C operational cloud classification method divides cloud/surface into seven categories: sea, stratocumulus& altocumulus, mixed cloud, altostratus& nimbostratus, cirrostratus, thick cirrus and cumulonimbus. Because of the influence of FY-2C resolution, it is difficult to identify altostratus and altocumulus.

Therefore this study categorized both of them as midlevel clouds. Considering significant differences between thin cirrus and thick cirrus clouds and their impacts on solar radiation, this study also breaks down cirrus clouds into thick and thin one. In addition, with richly educated and trained experience, it is possible for meteorology experts to identify stratocumulus (which is the main form of low-level clouds during this study period) from altocumulus based on brightness temperature and cloud texture. The set of classes used in this study are shown in Table 2.Table 2.The set of classes and samples in this study.2.3.

In this study we invited Dr. Chun-xiang Shi and Professor Xu-kang Xiang to act as experienced meteorologists. Both of them have worked on analysis of satellite cloud images for over 20 years at the National Satellite Meteorological Center of China. They have developed the cloud classification system of NOAA-AVHRR and GMS 4 in China [22]. TherefoThe rapid and reliable detection and determination of pathogen microorganisms is of great importance nowadays, due to health and safety reasons. The main areas of research implied in this subject are GSK-3 the food industry, water and environment quality control and clinical diagnosis List 1|]# [1].

Among these, the food industry is the area where most attention has been focused, given the public health implications and potential fatal consequences of failing to detect certain bacteria while it is still possible to take direct action. Pathogens belonging to the coliforms, salmonellae, bacilli, etc. families that have been used in bioterrorism attacks aimed at the food supply [2] should be considered.

The central server runs a software application that selects the closest wireless cameras to the multisensory and gives them selleck screening library coordinates to rotate to the multisensor that Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries raised the alarm, and sends them a message in order to selleck chemical receive real-time images from the zone. It will let the fire fighters corroborate the detected fire. We will also Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries research the power consumption of the devices involved in this deployment in order to demonstrate that it is sustainable.The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents some related works with the use of wireless sensors for fire detection that we have found in the literature. Section 3 describes the main features of a rural area and the research we have done to perform the deployment.

The radio design, the analytical considerations to know the number of devices needed, and the channel distribution plan is shown in section 4. Section 5 shows the hardware deployed that has been used in this work. The system design and protocol operation is shown in Section 6. Section Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries 7 shows the user interface for the firefighters. Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries In Section 8, the performance test and the power consumption measurements are presented. Finally, Section 9 shows the conclusion and future works.2.?Related WorkSeveral technological solutions based on wireless networks have been proposed to detect and monitor a fire. The related literature shows systems based on satellites, infrared cameras, wireless cameras and sensor networks. Some of these wireless systems are implemented alone, but there are some that mix several technologies.

Moreover, there are other types of technologies, Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries such as a GPS system, which can be added to improve their performance.There is an important system for forest fire detection based on satellite Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries imagery: MODIS [6]. It studies the images taken from satellites. But, Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries weather conditions are an important problem in these systems. Clouds and rain absorb parts of the frequency spectrum and reduce spectral resolution of satellite imagery. So, the performance of this system changes very much. Satellites can Brefeldin_A monitor a large area, but the resolution of satellite imagery is low. A fire is detected when it has grown quite a lot, so real time detection cannot be provided.

Moreover, these systems are very expensive.Li et al. presented an algorithm based on satellite remote sensing to detect fire across the Canadian Entinostat boreal forest zone [7]. The authors use images provided by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The paper shows the analysis and how their algorithm www.selleckchem.com/products/Gefitinib.html works in order to detect a fire by using several graphics. The system presents several advantages: automatic operation, consistent data quality, cost-effective use, and rapid response, but not in real-time.Thierry Antoine-Santoni et al.

Depending on the complexity of the monitored product, it is possible to monitor thousands of parameters in the entire life kinase inhibitor Wortmannin cycle of the product to provide the information Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries selleck Vorinostat required Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries by PHM. These parameters include operational and environmental loads as well as the performance conditions of the product, for example, temperature, vibration, shock, pressure, acoustic levels, strain, stress, voltage, current, Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries humidity levels, contaminant concentration, usage frequency, usage severity, usage time, power, and heat dissipation. In each case, a variety of monitoring features such as magnitude, variation, peak level, and rate of change may be required in order to obtain characteristics of parameters.

Figure 1 is an example of PHM for an automobile to show the complexity of PHM application [15].Figure 1.

An example of PHM application for an automobile [15].Secondly, parameter monitoring may be needed during all stages of the product life cycle, including manufacturing, shipment, storage, handling, and operation, Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries since failures may occur due Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries to the abnormal operational or environmental conditions of all these stages. Sensor systems provide the means by which the parameters can be monitored and the data can be acquired and processed.Thirdly, PHM should have minimum adverse influences on the reliability of the monitored product and should have relatively low cost. This means that additional parts, such as sensor systems, should be selected carefully to minimize the adverse effects on the monitored host products.

The features of PHM require many high performance sensor systems to continuously Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries monitor record, analyze, and transfer a large amount of parameter data in the product��s life cycle.In this paper, the considerations of a sensor system for PHM applications Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries are discussed. Even though general considerations for sensor system selection Entinostat can be applied Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries to all branches Dacomitinib of science and engineering, the features discussed above concerning PHM applications provide unique perspectives on these considerations and associated issues. The state-of-the-art of current Y-27632 FDA commercially available sensor systems for PHM is presented by a survey.

The emerging trends of the sensor systems for PHM are also predicted.2.?Considerations of Sensor System Selection for PHMConsiderations of sensor system selection for PHM may include the parameters to be measured, the performance needs of the sensor system, the electrical and physical attributes of the sensor system, reliability, and cost chemical information [16]. Sensor systems with multiple sensing abilities, miniature size and light weight, low power consumption, long range and high rate data transmission, large onboard memory, fast onboard data processing, low cost, and high reliability are specifically advantageous to PHM applications.

Cairns and Mount [7] stated that chemical concentrations can be measured with an instrument, but living organisms can measure toxicity only. The number of toxic compounds that can be assayed by cell-based sensors is virtually endless. Current cell-based sensors for environmental monitoring selleck products can detect heavy metals or their salts, organic compounds, various carcinogens and pesticides selleckchem such as diuron, atrazine, organotin compounds, organophosphates, Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries glyphosate and various antibiotics (for a review see [8, 9]). However, it must be mentioned that cell sensors commonly are non-selective, not being able to discriminate between individual bioactive compounds. Also, cell-based sensors must provide for an environment maintaining sufficient cell viability (e.

g. CO2-enriched culture atmosphere).

Commercial environmental cell biosensors utilize luminescence from natural or genetically modified microbial species, Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries whereas specificity of the response against an analyte is based on the fusion of reporter genes, with a metabolic Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries operon induced by its respective analyte. Bioluminescence-based Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries systems have been extensively used to monitor cellular Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries stress responses, either by inducing the response at low analyte concentrations or by inhibiting the luminescence at higher Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries concentrations [5, 10-15].Fluorescence-based systems are not always suitable for quantitative determinations. They are also far more expensive than amperometric techniques [16].

Fluorescent dyes may also have considerable side-effects on cellular physiology, such as uncoupling or respiratory inhibition and membrane permeabilization [17, 18] and may interfere with the cell parameter that they assay [19].

Approached from different angles, electrically active cells can be interfaced with microelectrodes which allow the capture of extracellular spikes Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries or impedance changes associated with cellular or tissue response. An example is the Bioelectric Recognition Assay (BERA) which Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries has been originally developed for the detection of viruses on the basis of their specific interaction with appropriately immobilized, mammalian cells and the measurement of the change of the electric potential that is caused by the aforementioned interaction [9, 20, 21].

In the present study, we developed a cellular biosensor based on the BERA working CarfilzomibCilengitide principle for detecting organophosphate and carbamate pesticide residues in tobacco.

The sensor is based concerning on neuroblastoma N2a cells. The presence of pesticidal compounds is LDC000067? detected by the degree of inhibition of AChE, which is directly associated with changes of the immobilized cell membrane potential after administration of acetylcholine (ACh).2.?Experimental Section2.1. MaterialsMouse neuroblastoma (N2a) cell cultures were originally provided from LGC Promochem (UK). Acetylcholine iodide (ACh) was purchased from Sigma Chem. Co. (USA).